River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-03-24
FIFTY YEARS AGO.

Fifty YEARS AGO.
Father Garrison. of the Iowa State
Register, discourses of things half
century ago as follows: "Fifty-four
years ago, the coming fall, the agricul-
tural editor of the Register built brick
building for printing office in Brook
vile. Ind. We have been looking over
our old books, to compare the prices of
labor then with what is demanded now
The stone and brick work was done by
Joseph Wallace, the price paid being
twenty five centsper thousand for brick.
taking the kiln count for numbers He
was an honest and faithful workman.
The woman who was his wife then, is
now the wife of a Methodist minister in
Dies Moines. o. NJ. Bartlow,a neat and
rapid workman, did the carpenter work
for 624 cents per day. And a DAYS
work at that period was from sunrise
until sunset. and accomplishing. The
brick and lumber had to be hauled
about six or seven miles, and the writer
made it regular practice of going for
a load of one or the other each night.
after supper. which was after sunset.
And he was out for one of these loads
the night of the l4th of November,
1888, when there occarred the greatest
meteoric shower recorded in history.
The full sight of il wcll paid for the
entire fall's extra labor The mortar
was made. and it and the brick car
ried up To the maSons by Mr.. Henry
and his son John, both strong men,
for twenty-five cents day each. And
people lived just as contented and hap
py in those days rs now. Few debts
were contracted, and a mortgage of
any kind was rarity But that was
in the barbarous age of Imprisonment
for debt.
BY turning to the files of our paper
of that date we thd the prices of arti-
cles quoted rs follows: Flour. per bar
rel. $500, corn per bushel, % cents;
cigars, 81 90 per thousand; cotton yarn
(aS all weaving was done in the family
was 20 to Is cents per pound; iron, 10
cents per pound, retail; coffee per
pound. 16 cents; salt per bushel, 100;
tobacco. from 10 cents per pound;
apples, green. per bushel. % cents;
beef. 3 to 4 cents; butter, 6 TO 8 cents;
chickens, per dozen, - cents to $l.00;
eggs, cents; nails. cents per pound;
sugar. (white), from Is to 9 cents per
pound; whisky, y cents per gallon.
We thus give the price of labor in
connection with the price of food, cloth
ing, etc, which show how the people
lived and labored in those good old
Hoosier days.
Freight by river from Wheeling to
| Cincinnati was 40 cents per 100, and
from Philadelphia to Wheeling by wag-
on $500 per 100.
SPRING CLEANING.
More important in many respects
than the Inauguration of new ma
tional administration is this annual
revolution in the household, at least to
some persons, and it is well nigh upon
Us. The male members of the family
utterly detest IT, To them the spring
cleaning is a thing of terror, With
some men even the weekly sweeping
/ dav i a matter of adherence. A bach
clor friend whose sister kept house for
| him most methodically used to relate
very tragically the appearance Of hi,
own particular apartment on the dread
ed Friday. He was not engrOSsed in
| business. and 50 spent many of his
/ hours at home thus seeing more of the
ordinary administration of household
affairs than most men do. He had
sometimes looked into his room on
sweeping day. Alas, everything was
ont of place and he felt that the climax
of dcsolatiOn was reached when he saw
the mirror detached from the bureau
and lying llat upon its face on the bed.
| But spring cleaning is a sort of accu-
INFLATED or prolonged sweeping day,
and some women make the most of it.
For weeks the household will be dis
I turbed and distressed A frantic effort
viii be made to clean the whole house
at once. Herculean tasks will be per-
formed by many fragile hOusekeepers,
there will be much running up and
down stairs, etc. passing in doors and
out: meals will be out of time, diSpO-
Sitions out of tune and everybody in
the house out of patience. And the
prime minister of the house will find
herself sick. worn and weary, and con-
tinue so for weeks.
OF course this will not be so i'm all
households. The wise woman will not
begin the annual revolution too soon,
while wintry weather is still with us
1t is better to delay it until doors and
windows can more safely be left open,
for this they are sure to be more or
less during the cleaning. In our house
hold we have found a few rules work
to great .dvantage. On days that any
special cleaning is to be done the
preparation of meals is MADE as simple
an operation as possible. Some of the
younger children are sent for the day
to auntie' or grandmother : We are
free from the care of them and they are
out of the way of possible draughts.
We never undertake more than day 5
work ut time. Let the rooms receive
attention one by one. A little plan
ming will ensure the beating of a carpet
Immediately upon its being taken mp
and its relaying promptly after its re-
turn from the beating Tack filters,
hammers. a supply of good tacks, brush
Is and brOoms. soap. soda or borax,
house lfannels, drying cloths, etc,
should all be ready before the clean
ing Is commenced. BY beginning at
the top of the house and coming down,
doing a room at time. never displac-
ing the furniture of a second room I'M
til the first has been set in order, and by
allowing an interval of a day or two
between the cleaning of the different
apartments much friction viii be avoid
ell Indeed. with a little management
and "a extra stock of good temper
the whole house from roof to cellar
viii be put right without the iarTing of
a single nerve. And as for the gentle
men If the family, they viii hardly be
aware. save by the visible results. that
any such extensive overhauling has
been in process.
WATERING HORSES.
A well known horseman protests
against watering horses Immediately
after they are fed. You must remem-
Der. he SAYS. the fact. that much of
what they have taken is dry food. and
,-bor sbax- 1riuE II i often ahouf a.